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Which way out? Travellers who face long queues waiting to check through the immigration counters at Don Muang Airport discover there are even longer queues at the taxi stands and that is just the beginning. Look beyond at the traffic congestion on the main highway and tollway leading to the city. It translates into a two to three hour transfer from aircraft terminal walkway to a city centre hotel. An airport express train now under construction will accelerate the transfer from the yet to open Suvarnabhumi Airport to the Phaya Thai to less than 28 minutes. It is still some time off. Officially, the train was supposed to run down the track to Suvarnabhumi Airport by early 2008, exactly 999 days after the construction company rolled the earthmovers to the site. That is now looking highly unlikely as the contractor faces land acquisition difficulties along the length of the track within city limits. Closer to Suvarnabhumi Airport there are signs of progress as tall concrete pillars take shape. In town, the troubles are far from over as slum communities oppose eviction. Most of the trouble lies closer to the city centre where at least one discotheque blocks the path of construction teams and has only been partly demolished. Then there is the complicated task of accommodating utility lines and even a pipeline that will deliver jet fuel to the new airport. None of this comes as a surprise to people close to the Suvarnabhumi Airport project. Numerous projects, both large and small, could compromise the proposed opening date. Baggage trolley contracts that were supposed to have been finalised are back on the drawing board after the committee apparently decided to change the trolley specifications. Can you open an airport without baggage trolleys? I suppose you can, but if the system that coordinates the baggage transfer from plane to passenger is still untested then airlines will not make the transfer. Reliable aviation sources claim some airlines have already told the Airports of Thailand they will not move a single item to the new airport until they are sure Suvarnabhumi can provide trouble-free facilities. Right now, the theoretical question is "what do we do with Don Muang after the new airport opens?" One airline manager rephrased that to "what do they do with Suvarnabhumi after we stay at Don Muang?" Of course, he is joking. Ultimately, every airline will move to the new airport, but the scenario that Thai Airways International could move first under duress while the rest stay back may have some credibility. Not a single airline, based at Don Muang, has activated removal plans and we are now just four months away from opening date. Another factor bothering airlines is the AoT's decision to raise landing and related service fees once they transfer to Suvarnabhumi Airport. They would like to renegotiate those fees before they move. Also, there are indications from engineers, both in the construction and airline communities, that the airport could be delayed until the end of the year if the most optimistic of calculations are employed. Not good news for the companies that tied up huge investments in equipment and facilities, but there are still some optimists who believe the prime minister's pledge to open the airport by early July. An advertisement, boasting bargain fares of 11,000 to 12,200 baht to Europe and 13,300 baht to New York, could be too good to be true. Malaysia Airlines is presenting its fares on its web site, www.malaysiaairlines.com for a limited period through to February 26. Coincidently, the promotion also overlaps the Thailand Travel Agents Association outbound travel fair that runs from February 24-26, at BEC Tero Hall, Bangkok, which should abound with travel bargains. There is not much to sing about when you get to the italic print half way down the Malaysia Airlines advertisement. Unfortunately, the 11,000 baht fare is one way, not roundtrip. Asked to explain the airline noted that Thais and residents could buy a roundtrip fare based on the 11,000 baht one-way deal. That would get you to Europe and back for 22,000 baht in economy class with travel completed by June 30. After a couple of minutes explaining the promotion, the airline executive added; "it's really an advertising trick." So where is the trick? If we bothered to read the advertisement copy, it clearly stated the parameters. Some readers, including myself, missed the one-way flag and concluded Malaysia Airlines would win this year's Santa award. Others saw it and declared, "Who needs a one-way fare from Thailand?" But the trick, if there is one, is not found in the main text. It is in the small print that will raise the 22,000 baht roundtrip by another 6,400 baht in fuel surcharges and 856 baht for administration fees. Your 22,000 baht fare to Europe will turn into 29,256 baht when your monthly credit card statement arrives. You would need a magnifying glass to read the small print, which states the fares plastered across the broadsheet page are subject to "fuel surcharges, insurance, airport tax and other applicable charges." Is that the trick; getting consumers to take the bait and then delivering an invoice with a few additional charges that raise the fare by a not so modest 30 percent? Malaysia Airlines is doing exactly what every airline does in Bangkok. They all adopt a different code of business when dealing with Thailand's consumers than with their counterparts in Europe. That is a pity. There are rules of engagement in the battle for consumer confidence, particularly in a global market place, where fares are posted on the world wide web. I think one of them should be "come clean with the price we need to pay." If consumers are guests, as some airlines claim, why is there a reluctance to display the real price? Are we reading advertising tricks or airline teasers? |